How worried is Geno about season long wear and tear?

[Icebear]

UC - I love your posts! But thinking that the short bench wasn't our problem when we lost to ND in the semis IMO is way off. When Steph got her 2nd foul 3-4 minutes in, Lorin Dixon was our only sub. That game was over then. We had no match ups with any height in the post to offer. Maya moved to a center on defense and was forced to win the game single handed. If we had Samarie Walker, a rebounding magnet, we would have had a real shot to win that game. I think N Dame was great. If we had a S Walker or a Kiah Stokes or a Morgan tuck also on the bench- Maya may have carried us to victory.

Short bench and fatigue is different than short bench and fouls. The OP was about fatigue and wear and tear.

 

[UcMiami]

UC - I love your posts! But thinking that the short bench wasn't our problem when we lost to ND in the semis IMO is way off. When Steph got her 2nd foul 3-4 minutes in, Lorin Dixon was our only sub. That game was over then. We had no match ups with any height in the post to offer. Maya moved to a center on defense and was forced to win the game single handed. If we had Samarie Walker, a rebounding magnet, we would have had a real shot to win that game. I think N Dame was great. If we had a S Walker or a Kiah Stokes or a Morgan tuck also on the bench- Maya may have carried us to victory.

Icebear got it right in terms of the distinction I meant. Stef with two fouls in 5 minutes is not the result of fatigue on the team due to a short bench for the season. As I said a 'foul fest' is a whole other beast and something I do fear - substitute Moriah for Dixon and I still do not want to see them playing center!!! But this year having both Kiah and Stewart gives us a little more protection than we had then.
On Edit -
Also there is a big difference between a freshman center with two fouls and a senior center with two fouls in terms of coaches trusting the player not to get #3.

 

[jsloanjr]

I not worried at all, Geno knows when to ease up on the reins and when to snap the whip.....Geno always used a 7 or 8 player bench.......

 

[RegisteredUconn]

I'm long past any wear and tear. I'm more into totally falling apart.

Yup. I'm worn and torn.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Well ... the issue isn't games because the team has averaged about seven bodies available through the first 22 games and the average minutes per game Dolson at a team high of 31.4 to Kaleena at 26.9 for starters and from 19.3 for Kiah to 17 for Banks for the bench. In total Tuck played 116 minutes or an average of 5 minutes per game for the 22 games played. And that is two games a week for the rest of the year, plus 4 games in the ACC tournament over four days? plus two games a week after the aforementioned 12 day break for the NCAAs.
Those minutes are very manageable and compare to Stanford where Chiney is at 32 m/g and Orange at 30 m/g, Baylor with Odyssey at 32 and Robertson at 30, Duke with 4 starters between 28 and 30 m/g, ND with Loyd and McBride at 29 and 30, etc. etc.
The issue that Geno spoke of is what happens outside the games - practice and workouts during the week between games are much more physically demanding than the games themselves and the coaching staff may end up adjusting the length and frequency based on the slightly shorter bench. That is also something that generally happens for the next month as there are fewer major things to work on and the bumps and bruises and colds and flu begin to mount.

With the exceptions of injuries I just don't see this as a big deal. The 2010 team with Lorin on the bench I think just wasn't quite good enough - didn't think the short bench was the issue.

Now ... want to talk a possible foul fest causing issue - that is where I have the biggest fear in terms of Morgan being unavailable. Love Moriah but do not want to see her playing center!!!

We're in the ACC? Hot diggity dog.

Leaving typos aside for the moment, is there any way UConn can play 4 conference tournament games this year? I don't know the format but with ten teams either six teams will get a first round bye or two teams will not play in conference post-season action. Under either scenario, UConn would only need to play 3 games.

 

[UcMiami]

We're in the ACC? Hot diggity dog.

Leaving typos aside for the moment, is there any way UConn can play 4 conference tournament games this year? I don't know the format but with ten teams either six teams will get a first round bye or two teams will not play in conference post-season action. Under either scenario, UConn would only need to play 3 games.

Whoops! Thanks for the correction.
And I think you are right - Uconn will play three games, first round is a qualifier in the AAC tournament. 31 regular season, 3 AAC and 6 NCAA possible this year.

 

[meyers7]

We're in the ACC? Hot diggity dog.

Leaving typos aside for the moment, is there any way UConn can play 4 conference tournament games this year? I don't know the format but with ten teams either six teams will get a first round bye or two teams will not play in conference post-season action. Under either scenario, UConn would only need to play 3 games.

I don't imagine UCONN plays the first round of the AAC tourney.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I don't imagine UCONN plays the first round of the AAC tourney.

Are you sure you're not brimming with too much overconfidence on that point and messing with the mojo gods? I would hate to see that limb crack on you after you slid so far out.

 

[meyers7]

Are you sure you're not brimming with too much overconfidence on that point and messing with the mojo gods? I would hate to see that limb crack on you after you slid so far out.

Tony's getting to me.